Shiites in S. Iraq Rebuke Tehran  —  Petition Calls for U.N. Probe Into Iran's Influence, Sheiks Say  —  More than 300,000 Shiite Muslims from southern Iraq have signed a petition condemning Iran for fomenting violence in Iraq, according to a group of sheiks leading the campaign.

Rove Tries To Rewrite History: Claims WH 'Opposed' Politicizing Pre-War Iraq Vote  —  Last night on The Charlie Rose Show, former Bush political adviser Karl Rove claimed that he was "opposed" to holding the pre-war Iraq vote just ahead of the 2002 elections.

Repubs Warn Repubs They're Losing the Center; Will Dems Fight Hard Enough to Win It? … Over at Swing State Project, James has a great compilation of recent comments by prominent Republicans, many retired, expressing great pessimism about their party.  The recurring theme is that the Republicans …

A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending - participate by not participating  —  Action update: MTV, the channel that markets itself to hip youth, has decreed that our Buy Nothing Day public service spot "goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels".

Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.  —  BAGHDAD — Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers …

Musharraf Rival Prepares for Return to Pakistan  —  Nawaz Sharif, a Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister living in Saudi Arabia, flew to Riyadh from Jidda today to see the Saudi royal family in what appeared to be the final preparation for his departure for Pakistan.

Nominations may be decided in one quick blitz  —  New Hampshire sets its earliest primary yet.  Presidential hopefuls will probably campaign through the holidays.  —  After months of suspense, New Hampshire on Wednesday scheduled its presidential primary for Jan. 8 — the state's earliest date ever …

J.F.K.'s Death, Re-Framed  —  FORTY-FOUR years ago today, a clothing company owner named Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas.  And for 44 years, most people have presumed that his home movie captured the assassination in its entirety.  This presumption has led to deep misunderstandings.

Thanksgiving and JFK  —  For anyone over 50, today is not only Thanksgiving but the day JFK died 44 years ago.  He has been gone now for almost as long as he lived and, in these times of White House infamy, not nearly as much in the national mind as his antagonist, Richard Nixon …

Musharraf and the Con Game  —  There always seems to be a good reason to support a dictator.  In the late 1970s, Jeane Kirkpatrick argued that it was better to support a "right-wing" dictator lest he be replaced by communists.  Right-wing dictatorship — today some call it "liberal autocracy" …

Excusing Chavez  —  At The Newshoggers.  Libby writes: "Now I don't want to get into a debate over whether Chavez is crazy, or a communist or pursuing the right policies for Venezuela.  I honestly don't know the answer to that, but I do know that he is a democratically elected leader …

Why Your Tax Refund Will Be Late  —  Habitual congressional gridlock usually has no impact on the lives of ordinary Americans.  But what happened on the Senate floor last Friday just before lawmakers left for their Thanksgiving break will delay tax refunds next year for some 50 million taxpayers who count on them.

Thanksgiving '07: Happy Birthday to Me  —  Thanksgiving was supposedly started as a feast and joyous celebration of making it through another year, of acknowledging the toil and strife and the people that helped us along the way.  Lincoln (a personal favorite) made it an official holiday …

Snarls, smears and innuendo as attack dogs get ready for the fray  —  The anonymous e-mails and letters began dropping into inboxes and through front doors this summer.  —  One claimed that Hillary Clinton was having a lesbian affair with Huma Abedin, her beautiful aide.

Nebraska attorney general yields to Johanns  —  Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns (R) has a clear path to the Senate, at least for the time being, after Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning (R) dropped out of the race for retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb.) seat on Tuesday.